erable section of the Republican party gave him thereafter a support which was half-hearted and inconstant. Further disaffection resulted from efforts to reform the civil service of New York which brought the President into conflict with the powerful Republican party machine in that state.1 The high character of the President and his firm, wise and upright course raised the reputation of the party. His veto of the Silver Bill and the resumption of specie payments tended to the same result. The failure in 1880 of the third term movement for General Grant worked for the health of the party. The struggle of President Garfield with New York spoilsmen and his assassination by a disappointed office-seeker, gave a fresh impetus to the movement for the reform of the civil service. President Arthur maintained the high standard established by Presidents Hayes and Garfield.

In the election of 1884 the old parties were competitors for the confidence of the conservative and reforming elements of the country. Mr. Blaine, the Republican candidate, who in brilliancy, popularity, patriotism, and disappointing personal fortunes recalled the Whig leader, Henry Clay, lost the election by a narrow margin because while meeting the requirements of the conservatives, he had lost in a measure the confidence of the reformers.

In the election of 1888 Mr. Cleveland, by making tariff reform the issue, turned the manufacturing interests to the support of Mr. Harrison, the candidate of the Republicans, who thereby won the election. Mr. Harrison, while not personally popular, maintained the best traditions of his Republican predecessors. The highly protective McKinley Tariff, framed in obedience to the people's mandate in 1888 proved somewhat disappointing, and in the election of 1892, Mr. Cleveland, as the champion of lower tariff rates, was successful for the second time, secured the repeal of the act for the purchase of

1 In the course of this conflict, which continued to disturb the harmony of the Republican party until the death of President Garfield, the term "Stalwarts" was used to designate the supporters of Senator Conkling, who was in control of the Republican machine in New York state, and the term "Half-breeds" to designate the supporters of the administration.

silver, and thus strengthened himself with the conservatives of both parties. Democratic defection in the Senate nullified largely the downward revision of the tariff urged by the President and supported by the House.

The election of 1896 marked the close of the period of party readjustment. The leading issue was the free coinage of silver under conditions which would have made the monetary standard silver instead of gold, and would have lowered its value. The Democratic convention repudiated Mr. Cleveland, accepted free coinage, and nominated W. J. Bryan. The Republicans, at the cost of a formidable party defection, endorsed the gold standard and a highly protective tariff, and nominated William McKinley, whose record and character made him an exceptionally strong candidate. In doing this the Democratic organization became the party of radicalism, the Republican the party of conservatism. The committal of the Republican party to the maintenance of the gold standard, far more than its continued support of high protection, established its position in the reconstructed party system. In doing this it allied its fortunes with those of all the property-holding classes of the country, while retaining in a high degree the confidence of the wage-earners.

THE PERIOD OF 1897-1910

During this period there was first a rapid recovery from economic depression, and then ten years of almost unexampled prosperity, followed by two years of moderate depression. But the period is chiefly memorable for the war of 1898 with Spain; for the oversea territorial expansion that followed; for the rise of the so-called policy of imperialism; for the assumption of a far more prominent international rôle; for wide-reaching measures of internal reform; and, lastly, for the establishment of the policy of conserving the natural resources of the nation.

Throughout this period the Republican party had undisputed control of the national government. One of the earliest acts in the administration of Mr. McKinley was the enactment

in 1897 of the highly protective Dingley Tariff. The provision for Reciprocity proved at first of little use. But the need of foreign markets for the rapidly growing output of manufactured products, the rising demand that the interests of the home consumer, as well as those of the producer, should be considered, and the conviction that high protection fostered monopolies, brought about a change of sentiment in the party. Mr. McKinley, in his last speech, made at the Buffalo Exposition on the 5th of September, 1901, gave voice to this change; "The period of exclusiveness is past. The expansion of our trade and commerce is the pressing problem. Commercial wars are unprofitable. A policy of goodwill and friendly trade relations will prevent reprisals. Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the times. Measures of retaliation are not." These views gained headway against the strenuous opposition of the Stand-patters,1 until revision of the tariff downward was demanded in the platform of 1908, and achieved to a moderate degree in the tariff act of 1909. The party has also fulfilled its promise to establish the gold monetary standard on a firm basis. During the war with Spain and in meeting the new problems of colonial empire, the Republican party has again justified its reputation for efficiency. Not less noteworthy has been the policy of the party initiated and urged by President Theodore Roosevelt and developed by President W. H. Taft for the regulation of railways and all corporations and trusts engaged in interstate business. The latest important event in the history of the Republican party is the rise of the Insurgents, a group of Senators and Congressmen whose professed aims are to resist centralization in both party and national government, to lessen the influence of the money power over public policy, to regulate tariff schedules largely in the interest of the consumer, and in brief to emphasize anew the subordination of party and government to the will and service of the people.

1 Those members of the Republican party who would maintain as far as possible the high protective duties of the Dingley Tariff.

I

XIII

I EQUALITY IN TAXATION

II COMMERCIAL UNION WITH CANADA

N 1888 Mr. Albert Shaw of the Review of Reviews propounded the following questions to a group of economists,

asking each to reply dealing with such portions of the general subject as seemed to him especially important.

"It being generally conceded that Congress must cut off some existing resources of revenue, and reduce the surplus income, in what way should the reduction be made, and upon what governing considerations?

"Should it be attempted, by refunding or in some other way, to bring the public debt into such form as to permit the continuance of a policy of somewhat rapid payment, or should we adjust the revenues upon a plan that will allow nothing for debt payment beyond sinking fund requirements?

"In a policy for the more immediate future should we contemplate the special encouragement of trade with Canada, Mexico, and the states of Central and South America, by means of a 'commercial union' or 'zollverein' arrangement, steamship subsidies, reciprocity treaties, or otherwise?

What do you regard as the probable or proper future of the American protective system, and what would be the ideal sources of a national revenue? " 1

Professor Morse contributed his views on the two points following.

1 The National Revenues, ed. by Albert Shaw, Chicago, 1888, pp. 112-123.

I

EQUALITY IN TAXATION

It being generally conceded that Congress must cut off some existing sources of revenue, . in what way should the reductions be made and upon what governing considerations?"

The "governing consideration" should be, I think, to bring the national revenue system into accord with the maxim that "the subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities."

By far the larger part of the national revenue is raised on articles in common use, such as sugar, rice, fruits, and the products of wool, or on articles like tobacco, beer, and whiskey, the use of which is more common among the poor than the rich.

Is this inequality a hardship? Conclusions based on per capita apportionments are misleading, for the proper unit on which to base calculations is not the individual but the family. It is those wage earners who provide for large families on whom the burden of these taxes, whatever it may be, must rest most heavily; and it is towards this class in particular that public policy ought to be not only just, but humanely considerate. Perhaps the fairest way of determining the question is to find out how the expenditures of the poor are affected by the taxes on some articles of common use. According to the American standard of living, sugar is one of the "necessaries." In well-to-do families its cost considerably exceeds that of flour. It is, in fact, one of the heavy items of family expenditure. In order to have a basis of fact for conclusions, I have ascertained the outlay for sugar made by five families of the town in which I live: